1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to medical safety equipment. Specifically, and not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to a device for holding a container of medicinal or diagnostic agent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Healthcare workers are often required to dispense medication via a syringe from a vial or ampule. Typically, the healthcare worker is required to insert a needle of the syringe though a seal on the top portion of a vial, load the syringe with medication, and then inject the medication into the patient. However, there are two well-known safety hazards which are present during this procedure. One problem involves the risk of accidentally being stuck by a needle while loading a syringe, such as where a healthcare worker accidentally sticks himself or sticks another individual who is assisting in loading the syringe. This risk is particularly acute when one person holds the vial while the other person inserts the needle into the vial or when the syringe is loaded in a dimly lit room. Each year, hundreds of thousands of health care workers suffer from needle stick accidents. Obviously this is a dangerous situation where the healthcare worker is at risk for contracting many types of blood borne illnesses, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other viral and bacterial diseases. Another problem occurs when a healthcare worker must load a syringe while working in a sterile environment. In such a situation, loading a syringe presents the risk of contaminating either the healthcare profession or the environment. For example, when a doctor is performing surgery in an operating room, touching an object that has not been sterilized, such as a vial, presents the risk of contamination through the operating field, and the spread of bacteria. To prevent contacting these unsterile objects, typically another individual must hold the vial while the physician loads the syringe. However, the assistance of another person obviously presents an additional risk of contamination, especially when that person's hands come into close proximity to the syringe being loaded. Thus, there is a need for a device that can be sterilized and allows a doctor or other healthcare worker to load a syringe in a sterile environment without the aid of a second individual or allows the second individual to keep his hands away from the syringe.
Additionally, although there are no known prior art teachings of a device such as that disclosed herein, prior art references that discuss subject matter that bears some relation to matters discussed herein are U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,269 to Beal (Beal), U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,923 to Schlechter (Schlechter), U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,210 to Keirn (Keirn), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,020 to Fifield et al. (Fifield).
Beal discloses a device which includes a slit having two interior walls which are biased toward each other. A container may be placed within the slit and held stationary within the slit by force being directed to the side walls of the container. However, Beal does not disclose a plunger mechanism for holding the container in place. Rather, Beal utilizes two interior walls of the single unitary device to hold the container in place.
Schlechter discloses a lens cleaning device having a body with a handle and an outwardly extending U-shaped arm. The arm includes a lens cleaning element mounted to the U-shaped arm. Although this device is non-analogous art, the device does disclose a U-shaped arm which may be squeezed together to retain an object, namely a lens. However, Schlechter suffers from the disadvantage of requiring pressure to be applied by the user to retain the object. Schlechter also does not disclose retaining a vial or any object within the U-shaped arm.
Keirn discloses a device to remove electronic tubes which includes a handle having a U-shape and a pair of parallel elongated arms which are hinged. However, Keirn requires the user to hold both arms together to retain an object.
Fifield discloses a nail holder having a resilient plastic handle formed in a U-shape and a pair of parallel arms. The device is hinged and may be squeezed together to grip an object. Fifield also requires the user to actively squeeze the arms together to hold the nail.
Schlechter, Keirn and Fifield do not provide separate handles for holding the holding device. Without two handles to hold the holding device, holding it is very cumbersome to the user. In regards to Beal, Beal does not use a separate retention mechanism and relies on the bias of the two sides of a slit to hold the container. Thus, it would be a distinct advantage to have an apparatus which is easy to hold and provides a secure way of holding the container within the safety device. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus.